LIVEX 2026 Abu Dhabi Announces 100+ Global Speakers Including Ryan Reynolds and YouTube Co-Founder Steve Chen
Abu Dhabi is bringing together more than 100 international speakers from government, technology, investment, climate and media for the inaugural LIVEX 2026 – Livability and Investment Exhibition.
Taking place at ADNEC Centre Abu Dhabi from 29 September to 1 October 2026, the three-day event will explore one increasingly important question for global cities: how can they improve quality of life while continuing to attract talent, investment and sustainable economic growth?
Among the first speakers announced are Ryan Reynolds, YouTube co-founder Steve Chen, Tucker Carlson, climate leader Christiana Figueres and Udacity founder Sebastian Thrun, alongside former mayors responsible for major urban transformations in Paris, Bogotá and Melbourne.
Organisers expect LIVEX 2026 to attract 20,000 visitors, more than 40 exhibitors and participants from over 50 countries.
LIVEX 2026: 29 September – 1 October 2026 at ADNEC Centre Abu Dhabi. More than 100 international speakers, 40+ exhibitors, participants from 50+ countries and an anticipated 20,000 visitors are expected. Confirmed speakers include Ryan Reynolds, Steve Chen, Anne Hidalgo, Enrique Peñalosa, Sally Capp AO, Christiana Figueres, Sebastian Thrun, Adrien Grenier and Tucker Carlson.
The complete and updated speaker lineup is available through the official https://www.livex-global.com/en/conference/speakers.html
Ryan Reynolds, Steve Chen and Global Leaders Join LIVEX 2026
The first confirmed speakers demonstrate the breadth of topics LIVEX intends to bring under one roof.
Actor, producer and entrepreneur Ryan Reynolds joins a programme featuring Steve Chen, co-founder of YouTube, and Sebastian Thrun, founder of Udacity and former leader of Google’s self-driving car programme.
From the climate and sustainability space, Christiana Figueres, former Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change who led negotiations resulting in the 2015 Paris Agreement, is also confirmed.
Actor and environmental advocate Adrien Grenier, founder of Earth Speed Media and a UN Environment Programme ambassador, will participate, alongside media personality and Tucker Carlson Network founder Tucker Carlson.
Former Mayors Bring Global City Experience to Abu Dhabi
Urban development will be another major component of the LIVEX conversation.
Anne Hidalgo, former Mayor of Paris, will bring insights from an administration associated with expanding cycling infrastructure and advancing the 15-minute city approach.
She will be joined by Enrique Peñalosa, former Mayor of Bogotá, internationally recognised for the Colombian capital’s bus rapid transit and public-space reforms.
Former Lord Mayor of Melbourne Sally Capp AO will also participate, bringing experience from leading one of the world’s highly regarded cities through a period of disruption, recovery and urban transformation.
Together, the speakers will contribute different perspectives on how cities can become more connected, sustainable and attractive places in which to live and invest.
Investment Takes Centre Stage at LIVEX
LIVEX isn’t solely designed as a conference about urban living. Investment will sit alongside livability as a central theme.
A dedicated Investors Lounge will operate throughout the three-day event in partnership with the Abu Dhabi Investment Office and Mubadala, with investor services and platform teams present.
The format is intended to connect the ideas discussed on stage with investors, decision-makers and capital involved in shaping Abu Dhabi’s continued development.
H.E. Mohamed Ali Al Shorafa, Chairman of the Department of Municipalities and Transport, highlighted the increasingly close relationship between quality of life and economic competitiveness.
The underlying idea is that creating a city where people want to live can also strengthen its ability to attract businesses, investment and international talent over the long term.
Why Abu Dhabi Is Putting Livability in the Spotlight
LIVEX will draw upon Abu Dhabi’s own experience of connecting urban development with quality of life.
The emirate has been recognised as the most livable city in the Middle East and North Africa for seven consecutive years in Mercer’s Quality of Living Survey, according to the event announcement.
It has also been ranked the world’s safest city for ten consecutive years by Numbeo’s Safety Index.
LIVEX will use this context to examine how the design and development of cities can influence everything from mobility and public spaces to community wellbeing, economic opportunity and investment.
Abu Dhabi Residents Become Part of LIVEX
The conversation isn’t being limited to conference halls and international speakers.
Ahead of the exhibition, a travelling public installation will move across Abu Dhabi for five weeks, asking residents to contribute stories, moments and ideas about what makes the city a livable place.
A separate Community Tour will encourage residents to rediscover Abu Dhabi by bicycle, moving through some of the city’s districts and public spaces while experiencing the mobility networks and connected communities that contribute to everyday life.
Children are getting their own opportunity to imagine Abu Dhabi’s future through Imagine What’s Next.
The initiative asks children across the emirate a simple question: If you could add one magical thing to your neighbourhood, what would it be?
Their ideas and artwork will become part of a digital mural that will be showcased at LIVEX.
A New Global Platform for Abu Dhabi
With urban planners, entrepreneurs, investors, policymakers, technology leaders, climate experts and personalities from the entertainment and media industries participating, LIVEX is positioning itself as more than a traditional urban-development conference.
Instead, its inaugural edition will explore livability as a combination of quality of life, community, technology, mobility, sustainability and economic opportunity.
For Abu Dhabi, the event also creates an international platform to share its own approach to city development while bringing global perspectives into the emirate.
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